FileVault-proof Finder selection to alias list 1.2 review

FileVault-proof Finder selection to alias list is a workaround for a major FileVault/Finder applescript bug in Panther/Tiger: When applescripting Apple's Finder, it fails to treat FileVault-protected items as regular Finder items - an unbelievable bug in Panther's original FileVault incarnation that sadly survived the move to Tiger.

License: Freeware OS: Mac OS X File size: 8K Developer: Jan Bardi Price: $0.00 Updated: 10 Jan 2006

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FileVault-proof Finder selection to alias list is a workaround for a major FileVault/Finder applescript bug in Panther/Tiger:
When applescripting Apple's Finder, it fails to treat FileVault-protected items as regular Finder items - an unbelievable bug in Panther's original FileVault incarnation that sadly survived the move to Tiger. Among several other, often scriptbreaking effects, this causes an applescript to error out whenever it tries to coerce a FileVault-protected item into an AppleScript alias via the Finder. It also breaks many Automator's workflows that use the Finder selection as input.

The script offers a "Vanilla AppleScript" way to bypass the Finder when coercing FileVault-protected items into aliases or POSIX items. When run, it converts the full Finder selection into a complete list of aliases, even when the selection contains FileVault-protected items.

FileVault's buggy AppleScript implementation also errors out when the Finder tries to access any regular Finder item property for FileVault-protected items. But by getting to the alias stage as in this script, it becomes possible to call the "info for" command, that luckily also bypasses the Finder and returns many of the Finder's regular item properties (like "name", "file type", "kind" and "file creator").

What's New:
Cleans up the crucial finderDocToAlias handler code and adds some tutorial comments.